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“I am not sure.” she said, her memory still hazy. The last thing she could remember was walking out of the library and feeling excited about seeing Will again. After that, everything became fuzzy, until an image of a blond boy crossed her mind and her eyes grew wide.
It was like a dam broke, as memory after memory came flushing down and she gasped out loud.
“It was Brian. He was the one who did this.”
Stay
“Who the hell is Brian?” Will asked, as a small spike of jealousy rose in his gut at the mention of another guy, but it was immediately followed by shame as his eyes fell on Aria’s battered face.
The doctor had informed them before they were allowed to see her that Aria had suffered a small concussion, coupled with a few stitches on the left side of her head.
But now, that he could see her, he noticed that her bottom lip was broken and swollen and by the way she favored her right side, there must be at least a couple of bruises on her ribs, hidden from view.
It was clear to him that she must be in great pain, despite the brave face she was putting on for everyone.
“Brian is a guy from school. He has asked me out a couple of times but I said no because I wasn’t interested in him in that way, and then last week I sort of yelled at him because I was angry about something. But I apologized today and we agreed to be friends.” Aria said and looked down to her hands laying clasped together in her lap.
“Okay, so why did he do this if you agreed to be friends?” Meg asked, voicing Will’s exact thoughts and looking just as pissed off as the man himself was.
“He asked me if I would like to go and grab a cup of coffee with him after class but I said that I…” she stopped, glancing at Will for a second as a pink hue spread over her cheeks, before clearing her throat, “That I couldn’t and that I had to go and that’s when he lost it. He started hitting me, screaming and calling me names... and I just...” she trailed off, unable to keep going as her voice broke and looked away.
Will was by her side in an instant, wrapping his hands around her and holding her tightly.
“It’s okay Ari. Everything is going to be alright now. I got you and I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.” he shushed her and kissed her temple, vowing to himself to keep that promise.
~
Two days later the doctor came to check on Aria, just as Will was coming to visit her.
After saying that she was okay to go, but that she shouldn’t be alone for a few days and that she needed to take it easy and rest, Will immediately jumped in saying that he would make sure that she followed those orders.
Looking at her, he saw her ducking her head and blushing but when she made no objections, his heart soared as he realized just how much she was willing to trust him.
Will packed all of Aria’s stuff while she signed the discharge papers and called Nura to let her know that she was being released.
He then took her in his arms bridal style which made the girl squeal adorably and brought her to the wheelchair that nurse had left at the door, trying not to think about the fact that he could have wheeled it to her instead of carrying her to it.
“I could’ve walked, you know, you didn’t have to carry me like some damsel in distress.” Aria said once they were in the car, but Will just pretended not to have heard her and started the car, ignoring her shaking her head at him in exasperation.
~
Once they arrived at Aria’s apartment, Will put her bag near the coffee table and helped her into the bedroom, where he left her to change.
After he made sure that she didn’t need anything else, he went in search of a kitchen deciding to make her something to eat, seeing as she was in too much pain to do it herself.
After an inspection of her fridge, he settled on making a chicken soup that his mom used to make for him and Meg when they were sick and she was still around. He mixed the ingredients and turned on the stove, and then after he’d made sure that Aria was still in her room, decided to get a quick look of her home.
He was pleasantly surprised by how clean and tidy everything was since Aria was a college student and they were not known for their affinity to cleanness, no matter their gender. But there was no dust in sight, which made him very happy since he hated messy people.
The apartment was small but tastefully decorated, with one small bedroom and a living room with a comfortable green couch and a TV set across from it. But the biggest piece of furniture was an enormous bookshelf in the left corner next to the window that was overflowing with books and Will smiled in surprise since he wasn’t aware that Aria was a bookworm, but he was pleased with that fact.
Her tastes ranged from classics to science fiction and everything in between, and it was apparent by their worn edges that most of the books were read more than a few times.
“Will?” he heard Aria calling for him from the kitchen.
“I am in the living room. I hope you’re hungry, I made some soup.”
“You can cook?” Aria asked, popping her head around the corner with her eyes wide in surprise.
